The present invention relates to air-cooled heat exchange systems, and in particular, to a heat exchange device used in directed flow systems.
In recent years, many electronic components have undergone tremendous technological innovation. With the technological innovation comes improved performance and increased power consumption of the electronic components. These innovative electronic components generate higher heat than conventional electronic components. To dissipate heat generated in the electronic components, air-cooled heat exchange systems can be used. But the technology, design, and performance of air-cooled heat exchange systems have lagged behind. As more heat dissipation is needed with new electronic components, air-cooled heat exchange systems have grown in size, weight, complexity, and cost to accommodate for the higher heat dissipation that is needed. In some instances, these conventional air-cooled heat exchange systems are inadequate.
Further, multiple electronic components are often used in new devices, thus requiring better heat dissipation at multiple points in the device. Conventional means of cooling multiple electronic components in a system include the following. First, a heat sink and fan combination is located at every electronic component to cool that particular electronic component. This adds additional weight, cost, size, and complexity to electronic systems. Second, a heat sink is located at every electronic component but only one or a few fans are positioned in the electronic system to blow air over the entire electronic system. This adds an increase in the size and power of the fan. Additionally, it is less effective in instances where the electronic components in the electronic system are generating a large amount of heat, as the air flows over the entire electronic system and not just over the electronic components that are generating high heat.